Method of and machine for writing checks



NOV. 14, 1933. H. wlLSEY 1,935,194

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR WRITING CHECKS Filed Dec. 50, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Q rucum qmooj LINE \ aifi Inventor: 6 9 go [fl/6n H.Halsey W m yank,

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METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR WRITING CHECKS Filed Dec. 50, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet 2 [m/cnt or: [/"ven, H- Wilsey a ndufi fan/Mr m fags.

Patented Nov. 14, 1 933 1 1,935,194 METHOD OF AND MACHINE Foe WRITINGGHEC Irven H. Wilsey, Chicago, Ill.

Application December 30, 1931 Serial No. 583,832

12 Claims.

The general aim of this invention is to produce a stamping or markingmachine of novel construction and mode of operation, and moreparticularly to provide a new machine such as a ,check writer orprotector by which individual sheets of paper may be rapidly stamped ormarked.

One object of the invention is to produce a machine of this characterwhich is electro-,-magnectically operated.

Another object is to provide a machine in which the marking operation isinitiated by the closing of an electric switch under control of theoperator.

A further object is to provide such a machine in which the controlcircuit is automatically closed in the act of inserting the paper intothe machine.

A more specific object is to produce such a machine in which therelative approaching movement of the marking devices and the coactingelement, between which devices and element the paper is inserted, iscaused by the relative movement of a solenoid coil and its core and iscontrolled by a switch in the electric circuit which includes thesolenoid coi1.-

A further object is to provide a machine which is instantly convertiblefrom manual to automatic control and vice versa.

A further object resides in the provision of a novel method of markingdocuments in which, by effecting rapidly recurring printing movementsduring a marking operation, a deep penetration of ink into the body of adocument and shredding of the surface is achieved.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully understoodfrom the following specification in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a check writer embodying thefeatures of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine, parts of the casing beingbroken away.

Fig. 3 is a diagram of the electric circuits of the operating mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a view in vertical section from front to rear of the machine.

Fig. 5 is a transverse slightly enlarged scale, in the plane of line 5-5of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows.

While the principles and characteristics of my invention are capable ofembodiment in many different physical forms, I have illustrated in thedrawings and shall herein describe in detail a check writing machineconstituting one embodiment of the invention without, however, intendingto limit the invention to the specific construction disclosed. The scopeof the invention will be expressed in the appended claims.

Inthe machine illustrated in the drawings, all,

vertical section, on a of the mechanism is contained within a housinghaving a rear wall 10, side walls 11 and 12, a top wall 13, and a frontwall 14 which merges into the top wall 13 on the arc of a circlegenerally conforming to the axis of the marking disks, to be presentlydescribed. This merging arcuate portion'of the housing has a pluralityof slots 15 (Fig. 2) through which finger pieces on said marking disksproject to permit of manipulation of said marking disks to the desiredposition in setting up the numbers or marks to be impressed upon or intothe sheet of paper to be marked. The side walls 11 and 12 and the flrontwall 14 are slotted, as at 16, to receive the paper! or check to bemarked.

In the present machine, the marking devices comprise a series of tendisks 17 which are mounted for independent rotation upon a shaft 18having its ends fixed in the side walls of the casing. Each disk has afinger piece 19 projecting out through one of the slots 15 by which theoperator may rotate the disk to position any desired one of a number ofmarking elements or type faces, generally indicated at 20 (Fig. 5), inoperative position.

Means is provided .for yieldingly holdingthe disks in the desired setposition, .saidm'eans comprising a series of peripheral notches 21 (Fig.4) in each disk to be engaged by rollers 22on the free ends of aseriesof arms 23 pivoted, as at 24, on a bar 25 which has its ends fixedto the side walls 11, 12 of the casing. vA series of springs 26 tends tohold the" rollers 22 in engagement with the respective disks.

A platen 27jext'ends beneath the series of disks in position to'coactwith the selected printing elements 20 on the disks in causing achecker sheet of paper to be impressed between the print-i ingcharacters and the platen. As is usual in check writers, the printingcharacters, or the platen, or both, may be roughened on their abut.-ting surfaces to emboss,impress or roughen the sheet of paper forpurposes well-known in this art.

The platen and the printing elements constitute the marking devices andthese devices are arranged for relative approaching movement to effectthe printing operation. To this end, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, theplaten 2'? is supported at either endby the arms 28 of a'yoke 29, whicharms extend from front to rear of the machine along the side walls 11,12. The arms are pivotally and separately secured near their front endsto the adjacent side walls, as at 30, near the front end. of themachine.

.The yoke is actuated to swing the platen toward the printing elementsby electromagnetic means which is preferably a solenoid. The rear andside walls of the casing support a rearwardly located horizontallyextending platform or shelf 31, arranged to overlie the rear end or stem32 of the yoke 29. The shelf has mounted thereon a solenoid 33 soarranged that the armature 34 therein reciprocates in accordance withthe swinging movements of the yoke 29. The end of the armature mayextend through a suitable aperture (not shown) in the shelf and isconnected with the stem 32 of the yoke. This connection should allow oflimited relative movement between the parts and a convenient arrangementcomprises a rod 35 rigid with the armature for extension through a loop36 formed in the yoke stem 32 and held in such position by a nut 37 onthe outer end of the rod.

In this embodiment, the parts are, by gravity, held in the positionshown in Fig. 4 wherein the platen 27 is spaced from the printingelements to permit of insertion of a sheet of paper therebetween and thesolenoid armature extends partially from the coil. Hence, energizationof the solenoid draws the armature into the coil, thus swinging the yokeand the platen to move the paper to be marked against the printingelements.

The control circuits for the solenoid, by which circuits either manualor automatic operation may be selectively accomplished, will now bedescribed, particular reference being had to Fig. 3. From one side ofthe source of current 38, which will generally be an ordinary 110' voltalternating current circuit to which connection may be easilyestablished by a conventional plug and socket arrangement, a lead 39extends to one side of the solenoid coil 40. The other side of thesource is connected with the other side of the coil by a lead 41 inwhich is interposed three switches 42, 43 and 44. Switches 42 and 44will be termed automatically operable switches since they effect theautomatic operation of the device, and switch 43 is a control switch forthis lead. A shunt circuit 45 about the three switches 42, 43 and 44 hasan interposed switch 46 therein constituting the manual control for thedevice. I

Referring to the automatic control feature, the switches 42 and 44 (seeparticularly Figs. 4 and 5) comprise resilient fingers 4'7, 48 mountedon an insulating member 49 and having opposed contact points 50 thereon.The switches are located on opposite sides of the casing adjacent to theside walls, extend transversely across the paper receiving slot 16, andare mounted for adjustment along the length of the slot. Thus, theinsulating members 49 extend in part through elongated apertures 51 inthe side walls 11, 12 paralleling the slot 16, and finger pieces 52,screw threaded into engagement with the projecting parts, secure theswitches to the casing at selected points along the lengths of theapertures.

The switches 42, 44 are arranged so that a piece of paper being insertedin the slot 16 will engage a finger on each switch and'move it toestablish the circuit the'rethrough, and the switches are so fashionedthat this closing movement may be accomplished with very little effort.When a printing operation has been completed through closing theswitches 42, 44 the solenoid may be deenergized to allow the parts toreturn to their original inoperative position by applying a withdrawingforce to the innermost edge of the sheet whereby to flex the sheetslightly and permit either one of the switches to open. By providing aswitch on either side of the casing and arranging the switches in seriesso that both switches must be closed to establish the circuit, it willbe apparent that a piece of paper in moving into the machine must occupya proper predetermined position before the solenoid will be energized.

In connection with the automatic operation of the device, it is ofcourse understood that the switch 43 will be closed so that the closingof both switches 42, 44 will effect a printing operation. When manualcontrol is desired, the switch 43 is opened to render switches 42, 44inefiective and the switch 46 is then actuated by the operator toenergize and deenergize the solenoid. As may be seen in Figs. 1, 2 and4, the switches 43 and 46 are conveniently mounted on the front and sidewalls 14 and 11 respectively.

While any suitable means for applying ink or the like to the printingelements may, if desired, be employed, it is preferred that a device ofthe character illustrated be used, wherein the ink is applied by meanswhich operates in synchronism with the movements of the platen. Asshown, the device comprises an ink pad retainer 53 supported at each endby depending legs of bell crank levers 54 which are pivoted, as at 55,to the side walls 11, 12. In the inoperative position of the machine,the retainer is in contact with those printing elements which areopposed to the platen and is, therefore, located between theprinting'elements and the platen. Links56 connect the other legs of thelevers 54 with the corresponding legs of the yoke 29. lhe arrangement ofparts is such that when the yoke moves upwardly to carry the platentoward the printing elements, the bell crank levers 54 are swung by thelinks 56 to retract the retainer and ink pad carried thereby away fromits normal position;

In the operation of the devices, the user first sets the device foreither automatic ormanual control by means of the switch 43.' Ifautomatic control is selected, the switches 42, 44 are adjusted alongthe apertures 51 to such position that the switches will be closed asthe sheet reaches a proper printing position in moving into the devicethrough the slot 16. It will be evident that the automatic control willbe most advantageous where a large number of similar documents, such aschecks, are to be printed since the user need only set the printingelements as desired and then insert the document. Should manual controlbecome necessary the switch 43 is opened, after which printing iseffected by manually closing and opening the switch 46.

In printing certain documents, as for example in printing thedenominational figures on checks, it is of the utmost importance thatthe printed matter be incapable of alteration, at least with outdestroying or noticeably disfiguring the document. This end has beenattained by a novel method of printing the documents which includes thestep, in the printing operation, of producing rapidly recurrent printingmovements of the platen relative to the printing elements.- Thus, when asolenoid is operated by alternating cur rent, the alternations producein the solenoid coil a rapidly fluctuating magnetic force, which, actingon the armature, causes the armature to vibrate rapidly or chatter. Inthe present device, such vibrations are imparted, through the connectingparts, to the platen thus causing the platen to move rapidly withrespect to the print ing elements. Consequently, rapid and recurrentprinting movements are produced between the printing devices which,while the stroke of movement is short, are sufficient to cause the inkto penetrate the paper deeply. Moreover, where the surfaces of theprinting elements or platen are roughened, the numerous printingmovements are effective to shred the immediate surface of the paperwhile working the ink thereinto. Obviously, it would be impossible toalter a document so printed. 1

I claim as my invention:

1. A marking machine comprising, in combination, a casing having a slottherein, a series of marking devices on one side of said slot mountedfor shifting movement relative to each other to present differentcharacters in marking position, means spaced from the characters on theopposite side of the slot to allow insertion of a sheet to be markedthrough said slot into a position between said devices and means, ashiftable support for said means for moving said means toward and awayfrom said devices to effect a marking operation, and an actuatingsolenoid operatively connected with said shiftable support.

2. A marking machine comprising, in combination, a series of markingdevices mounted for relative shifting movement to present differentcharacters in marking position, a platen spaced from said devices inopposition to the characters which occupy the marking position, apivoted support for said platen having swinging movement to carry saidplaten toward said devices, electromagnetic' means operatively connectedwith said support for effecting the swinging movement thereof, an inkapplying device normally positioned between said devices and platen incontact with the characters which occupy the marking position, andconnecting means interposed between said ink applying device and saidsupport for withdrawing the devices as said platen approaches themarking devices.

3. In a marking machine, the combination of a marking device and anelement coacting therewith to press a sheet of material therebetween,electromagnetic means for effecting relative movement between saidmarking device and element, and an energizing circuit for saidelectromagnetic means including a pair of spaced switches operable byengagement with spaced portions of the sheet to be marked to close thecircuit.

4. The method of marking documents which includes the step of rapidlyand recurrently impressing desired characteristics upon a document toshred the surface thereof while causing a deep penetration of a markingfluid into the body of the document.

5. The method of marking documents which includes the steps of producingrapidly recurrent movements in an instrumentality by the cyclicalterations of a current, and transferring such movements to cooperatingmarking devices during a marking operation to effect repeatedimpressions upon the document whereby to cause a marking fluid topenetrate deeply into the document.

6. In a marking machine, the combination of a marking device and anelement coacting therewith to press a sheet of material therebetween,

electromagnetic means for effecting relative movement between saidmarking, device and element, an energizing circuit for saidelectromagnetic means including a switch for automatically closing thecircuit upon engagement thereof by a sheet to be marked, and a separatemanually operable switch for controlling the circuit independently ofthe first mentioned switch.

8. A marking machine comprising, in combination, a series of markingdevices mounted for relative shifting movement to present differentcharacters in marking position, a platen spaced from said devices inopposition to the characters which occupy the marking position, apivoted support for said platen having swinging movement to carry saidplaten toward said devices, and electromagnetic means operativelyconnected with said support for efiecting the swinging movement thereof,said electromagnetic means being connected with a source of alternatingcurrent, the alternations of which are effective to produce a chatteringor rapid vibration of said electromagnetic means which is transmitted tosaid platen.

9. In a marking machine, the combination of a casing having an elongatedslot for receiving a sheet of material to be marked, a marking devicedisposed on one side, of said slot, an element disposed on the otherside of said slot and coacting with said marking device to presstherebetween a sheet of material in said slot, electromagnetic means foreffecting relative movement between said marking device and element, andan energizing circuit for said electromagnetic means including switchesmounted on opposite sides of said casing adjacent to said slot forautomatically closing the circuit upon engagement of both switches by asheet to be marked.

10.7A marking machine having, in combination, a marking device, anelement coacting with said device to press a sheet of material againstsaid device, an alternating current circuit, and electromagnetic meansin said circuit for actuating said element, said means in response tocurrent alternations having a vibratory action by which said sheet israpidly and recurrently pressed against said marking device.

11. A marking machine having, in combination, a marking device, anelement coacting with said device to press a sheet of'materialthereagainst, and means for effecting such coaction with a rapidlyrecurrent movement whereby to shred the material and produce a deepimpression therein.

7 12. A marking machine having, in combination, a marking device and acoacting element normally spaced apart a short distance to permit theinsertion of a piece of paper therebetween, and an alternating currentsolenoid for causing relative approaching movement between said deviceand said element to impress the paper therebetween, said solenoid havinga vibratory action due to current alternations for effecting repeatedimpressions in the paper.

Hill

